Book fair at Chinese school offers cultural and language enrichment

ROCKVILLE, Md. (WUSA9) --- Chinese Americans can get their hands on books that have traveled halfway across the globe.

A Chinese book fair officially opened at the American Chinese School inside the campus of Richard Montgomery High School, Sat., Jan. 11, 2014.

"The First Washington Winshare Book Festival," sponsored by Chinese Outlook News newspaper, partnered with the school for the three-week book fair. A ribbon-cutting ceremony included Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Dr. David Wang, Principal of American Chinese School and representatives from the newspaper.

The book fair was an ideal fit for the Chinese school, because the books cater to the Chinese-American community, according to the Chinese Outlook News' Executive Director.

American Chinese School offers weekend Chinese language and cultural classes for 600 students and adults in Rockville.The books help reinforce language skills for children learning Chinese, according to Dr. David Wang, principal of the ten-year-old school with campuses in Rockville, Clarksburg and Herndon, Va.

Mother Xiao Yan Wang picked out picture books for her son, Jacob, 2, who is starting to recognize Chinese words. She said she wants both of her sons to grow up bilingual in Chinese and English. Her nine-year-old son, Jeffery, attends the American Chinese School. Wang said she knows her older son can read a few of the Chinese books by himself.

The books are reasonably priced, according to Wang.Books cost on average $2 to $10 each.